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Helena Stroud
Major Helena Stroud was a Gear officer in the 26th Royal Tyran infantry, and the mother of Anya Stroud. She was part of Howerd Company in 17 B.E., and the commanding officer of C Company in 4 B.E. Helena fought at the Battle of Shavad and the Battle of Ragani during the Invasion of Kashkur. She commanded C Company at the Acastu Imulsion Fields, and was killed during the Battle of Aspho Fields in 2 B.E., and was awarded the Embry Star posthumously for her actions during the battle. Biography Early Life and Career Helena came from a rich background, and joined the army and became a Gear at some point in her life. She had one child, Anya Stroud, with an unidentified man, and raised her alone.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 161 She kept a small apartment in Jacinto City.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 356 Invasion of Kashkur Shutting Down Imulsion Pipelines In 17 B.E., Helena was a Lieutenant in Howerd Company of the 26th Royal Tyran infantry, and was stationed at Forward Operating Base Tyro in Kashkur under the command of Captain Adam Fenix. After Col.James Choi briefed Adam on the company's mission and left the base, Helena asked him if she should gather the rest of the staff and NCO's so that they could be briefed on their mission. He told her that their orders had been changed, and that instead of joining the rest of the unit at Shavad, they were going to shut down three Imulsion pipelines leading into Vasgar and redirect the flow back into Kashkur. Helena was happy for a change of pace, but still hoped for some decent fighting later. She gathered the companies officers and the officers of the attached squad of engineers from the 2nd Battalion Royal Ephyran Engineers in the canteen for the briefing. Cpl.Collins threw her a pair of baby socks for Anya, who was now almost three. Helena thanked him for them, and told her she would keep them for Anya's daughter. Collins laughed, and told her that his wife was a slow knitter, and to do with them what she could. Adam then briefed the company on the mission, which caused some worry about the civilian population in Vasgar. Adam then told Helena and the others to be ready to deploy at sixteen-hundred, and that the first target was Borlaine.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 163-166 Joining the Battle of Shavad After they shut down all of the pipelines, Helena and the rest of the company joined the ongoing Battle of Shavad. After arriving in the city, the company became pinned down along the riverfront by Indie artillery and sniper fire. They took heavy casualties and many Gears were injured, and Helena began looking for enemy spotters in the ruins of the city. She spotted one in a nearby museum, and reported it to Adam. He informed her that no casevac helicopters were able to get to them because of the artillery fire. Helena was angry that they spent so much money on air support that could never help them, and began forming a plan with Adam to relieve some of the attacks on their position. She suggested using a ladder to enter the museum on the third floor to find and a kill the observer, and Adam ordered her to continue working on that plan. She then informed him that Sgt.Teale had been killed.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 231-232 She then began working with Sgt.Fraisen on building the ladder for her plan, and when Adam arrived, she explained to him that she wanted to use the ladder as a bridge between the building they were in and the museum. Adam was skeptical that it would work, but told her he would consider it if the artillery barrage from the tanks of the Sherrith Cavalry did not work. They then took cover near a window to watch the artillery strike, and Adam voiced his regrets on having to attack a museum. Helena rebuked him for thinking more about history than the lives of Gears, and they watched as the shelling began.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 234-238 Clearing the Museum As the shelling continued, Adam ordered Helena to contact the incoming Terns for the medevac and prepare the wounded Gears to be moved. Helena and the rest of the company kept watch on the museum as each Tern landed to take away the wounded, and Helena spotted an Indie in one of the windows fire a rocket at the Terns. She and the rest of the company opened fire, and luckily the rocket missed. The Indie escaped, and Helena told Adam that they needed to go in personally to find and kill him. Adam agreed, and selected Collins and Rawlin to come with them to clear the museum. As they worked their way across the square, Helena wished that they had borrowed Bernadette Mataki from Timgad Company, since her skills as a sniper would have come in handy. They entered the museum through a side entrance, and were shocked by the amount of damage the place had sustained. They moved as quietly as the could through the building, until they came to the staircase. Helena proceeded upstairs while the others guarded the stairs, and tracked the Indie observer through the building. She found the Indie, a female dressed in civilian clothing, and entered into a firefight with her, but Helena managed to corner her and shoot her in the head. Adam came up to assist her, but she told him it was all clear. She then inspected the equipment the Indie had been using, and found a semiautomatic sniper rifle. She took it in order to bribe Bernie into joining Howerd Company, and she and the other Gears left the museum. As they walked out, she saw Adam looking at a silver horse statue, and listened as he wondered what was going to happen to all of the artifacts and history in the museum. She told him that they could be remade and recovered, and that they should mourn burned books. After returning to the rest of the company, they learned that the last remaining bridge had been lost to the Indies, and that they needed to pull back. As they rest of the company felt dejected for losing so many comrades for nothing, Helena reminded them that they had not lost the bridge themselves, but the other units had, and that they remained undefeated. This improved the others morale, and they company fell back to rejoin the rest of the 26 RTI.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 277-284 Burying the Dead and New Orders After returning to Lakar, Helena was contacted by Choi, who ordered her to find Adam and give him the companies new orders, which were to intercept Indie armor moving towards Ragani, and keep the highway open for the Andius Fusiliers Regiment. She found him burying Pvt.Hanson, and asked him if he had told his wife about the job offer he got from the Defense Research Agency. He told her he hadn't, and asked for a few more minutes with Hanson. She informed him that Choi was trying to contact him, but Adam told her he had switched off the radio to give Hanson his full attention. Helena informed him of their orders, which angered Adam, since Ragani was twenty klicks back in the direction they had just retreated from, and half of the company was dead. Helena told him Choi hadn't seemed too happy with the situation either, and helped him bury Hanson. Adam wondered if his son would have to fight in the war as well, and Helena expressed her hope that he and her daughter wouldn't have to.Gears of War: They Also Serve Battle of Ragani After arriving at Ragani, the company set up fortifications in an old building next to the highway leading into town, and Adam tasked Helena with evacuating the remaining civilians before the Indies arrived. When they spotted them, they discovered that there were only four APC's, instead of the eight heavier vehicles they were told to expect. Collins thought that the Indies had changed their mind, but Helena suspected that Intel was wrong, as usual. However, she was worried about where the other vehicles might be if they did exist. Adam began wishing for an orbital defense platform that would be able to track and destroy things like that, and Helena suggested he make that his first research project. Adam gave the order to open fire on the Indie vehicles, but Collins missed his first shot, and the APC opened fire on the Gears position, wounding several of them. The next two RPGs took out two of them, and the others retreated. Helena listened in on the comms as Adam contacted Choi, and asked what was going on. Choi informed him that those were just scout vehicles, and that at least twenty more Indie vehicles were coming, including tanks. Helena informed Adam that they had enough armor-piercing rounds to take out the APC's, but they didn't have the weapons to take out tanks. She began working making Molotov Cocktails that could be dropped into them at close range. As she worked, she spoke with Adam, encouraging him to take the job and watch Marcus grow up. He asked her if he would be letting the regiment down if he took it, but she encouraged him to follow his conscience. He then asked her who looked after Anya while she was deployed, and if her father was around. She informed him that Anya's dad was not around and never would be, and that his identity would remain her own personal business. The Indie armor then arrived, and Helena was worried to see a Pariah Tank leading them. Helena suggested somebody get in close and drop the Molotov's into the tanks vents, and Adam decided he would do it, along with Collins. He ordered Helena to keep the rest of the Indies busy, and she asked if he was trying to prove something by taking the risk. As Adam and Collins began making their way to the tank, Helena organized the defense, ordering several Gears to assist Pvt.Kinnear, the company medic, and took an RPG from another Gear. She used it to take out some of the Pariah's tracks, immobilizing it, so that Adam could get close finish it off. He succeeded, but was wounded when a machine gunner hit his knee. Helena sent Kinnear out to provide aid to him, and then watched as the Andius Fusiliers arrived and began taking out the rest of the Indie armor. She contacted Hoffman to inform him, but he was too distraught about the casualties they had suffered to care. As she helped tend to the wounded, Helena remarked to some of the other Gears how Adam would never be able to handle losing men, and that he would probably take the job at the DRA. Aftermath Helena joined the rest of the company in returning to Lakar, and asked Adam if he was going to take the job, and how no one could call him a coward after what he had done at Ragani. He told her that he had to take the job, in order to find a way to end the war once and for all. After the invasion of Kashkur ended, Helena was promoted to Captain for her actions during the campaign, and was given command of Howerd Company because Adam did retire and took the job at the DRA.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 426 Acastu Imulsion Fields Arrival at Acastu Fourteen years later, Helena had been promoted again to Major and was in command of C Company of the 26th Royal Tyran infantry, and Anya had joined the army as a officer cadet. Most of C Company was made up of new recruits, and were flown to the Acastu Imulsion Fields in Dushin aboard two Corva helicopters. Helena flew aboard CC-4005, and noticed that Pvt.Marcus Fenix was reading a letter from home. She asked him how Adam was doing, and if he still work all day long. Marcus told her he did, and she told him to tell Adam that his old Lieutenant said hi, and that he needed to take a day off from the lab. As the Corva prepared to land, Helena told the Gears that boot camp was over, and they would be dealing with real bad guys and live rounds now. She ordered that they stay sharp, and that she didn't want to have to write anyone's mom that they had been killed. As the Gears exited the helicopters, Helena found her platoon sergeants, Sgt.Bernadette Mataki and Sgt.Daniel Kennen, and warned them that most of them had never been under fire, and the Lieutenants weren't experienced either. She told them that she would be counting on them to keep the troops ready, and that since the Indies hadn't raided in a while, they should expect an attack soon. Bernie hoped that a bigger troop presence would scare the Indies off, but Helena told her that they were currently disputing ownership of the wells in the fields, and were accusing Dushin of drilling under their borders. She then saw a leaking Imulsion pipe, and bent down to look at it. She showed the Imulsion to a squad of Gears, telling them that this is what they were fighting for. Pvt.Quinn said he thought they were fighting for democracy, but Helena told him that she was positive it was Imulsion, and that cars didn't run on freedom.Gears of War: Unsaid Dealing With Casualties Nine days into the deployment, Helena had lost two Gears to Indie raids: Cpl.Maxon was killed in a nighttime firefight, and Quinn was shot in the head by a sniper. Helena began writing a letter to Quinn's parents, and called Marcus in to see her. Both Maxon and Quinn had been in his squad, and she was worried he would beat himself up over their deaths like his father did. She asked him if he was okay, and he said he wasn't sure how anybody could be okay after seeing one of their friends dying in their first week of deployment. Helena told him not to beat himself up over their deaths, and Marcus said he would get used to it. She told him he wouldn't and shouldn't, and that they all had to learn their own way to deal with death. She remarked that Adam had decided to leave and build weapons to try and end the war as his way, and Marcus remarked that he understood that a lot better now. Helena ordered him to call Adam, telling him that it wasn't good to leave things unsaid, because you never knew if you would get another chance to say them. Operation Leveler Preparing for Operation: Leveler One year later, Helena oversaw a amphibious landing training exercise for C Company at Merrenat Naval Base in preparation for Operation: Leveler. She chewed out Pvt.Carlos Santiago for falling into the water and nearly drowning during the landing, and Marcus for stopping on the beach after pulling Carlos out from under the water. She told Carlos that if this had been a real battle, he would be lying dead with a hundred rounds in him, and ordered them to get their asses moving with the rest of the unit. Once everyone had assembled along the beachfront, Helena ordered them to begin advancing into the forest. When Carlos continued to cough up water during the exercise, Helena ordered him to fall out and see the company doctor to prevent secondary drowning after he continued spitting up sea water during the exercise.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 149-151 After the exercise, Helena conducted a debriefing of the company with two cadets at her side, one of whom was her daughter, Anya. She said that she had always felt that the COG needed to take amphibious operations more seriously, and that that oversight was about to work in their favor because the Indies would never expect an assault from the coast. Helena then answered what questions she could about the operation, but did not know much herself. After the company returned to the base, she lectured the two cadets on the virtues of leaving the CIC to see what it was like for Gears on the ground.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 154-156 Before the Operation Before the Operation began, Helena met with Chairman Tomas Dalyell, and talked with him about the mission. She told him that while he might think that her Gears were the governments troops, on the battlefield, they were her responsibility, comrades, and conscience.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 175 Two days before the Operation began, Helena boarded the CNV Kalona at Fesor Naval Base, along with Anya and several other CIC operators.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 178-179 Two hours later, she gave a briefing to the company on what their task was: providing support to a commando team that would infiltrate Aspho Point and capture intel on a weapons project. C Company would be landing north of the facility at Aspho Fields to cut off any Indie reinforcements from reaching the facility. Sgt.Bernadette Mataki asked what was at the facility to be risk an assault, and Helena told her that it involved weapons research that went beyond her area of expertise. Helena believed that the Stomper machine gun would be a great help in the battle, and helped the rest of the company load supplies onto their landing craft.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 182-185 Before they boarded their landing craft, she gave the company one last briefing. After they boarded the landing craft, Helena waved goodbye to Anya, who gave her a thumbs up. They then launched the craft towards the Ostrini shore.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 220-223 Battle of Aspho Fields Once they landed, Helena sent her company to secure the area around the bridge leading south to Aspho Point. Major Victor Hoffman, leading the commando team, contacted her and informed her they were in position, and she informed him her troops were still heading toward the bridge.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 225 After everyone was in position, she conferred with her platoon leaders, Bernie and Kennen. When Hoffman reported an enemy contact in the water, she sent Bernie's platoon to see if they could get a line of sight on it. Soon after Kennen and his men reported enemy contacts approaching on land, and she had Bernie secure their exit route while the rest of the company engaged.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 241-245 As the battle went on, several soldiers reported to Helena that they heard Asps approaching. After discovering their position, Helena realized that the enemy vehicles were getting in position to attack Aspho Point, because they had a backup of the information at Peraspha Military Base. Petrels were inbound to assist the unit, but Helena had them diverted to take out Peraspha first. As a group of mortars hit the companies position, Kennen was wounded. Helena ordered a medic to his position. After Bernie reported that she had spotted a person on top of Aspho Point signaling the UIR forces, Helena passed this information onto Hoffman. When she asked the medic for an update on Kennen, she was shocked to learn that he had died. She recovered quickly, and appointed Bernie to be the senior NCO and take over Kennen's platoon, and ordered her to take her two companies to flank the UIR armor.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 270-276 Sacrifice After watching two Petrels get taken out by the Asps, and the last of the companies Longspears were used in a failed attempt to destroy the Asps, Helena realized that somebody had to get close to the Asps and take them out with grenades. After taking a moment to reassure Anya that she was doing a great job and that she was proud of her, Helena ordered half the company to fall back to the extraction point, and the rest to fight a fighting retreat back towards it. She then told the unit that she would cross the battlefield and drop her grenades into an Asp. Bernie, Marcus, and Carlos tried to talk her out of doing it and let them try, but failed to do so.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 283-286 She then made Bernie promise to look after Anya and to make sure that she was ready for battle if she ever became a frontline Gear.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 350 Helena loaded as many grenades on to her armor as she could, and began working her way across the battlefield to one of the Asps. She managed to drop several grenades into its hatch, but as she attempted to leap clear, the webbing on her armor became stuck on the vehicle. As she attempted to free herself with a knife, the grenades exploded, destroying the Asp and fragmenting her body.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 286-289 Legacy Bernie took over command of the unit, and Anya continued to perform her duty in the CIC despite her mother's death.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 289-290 Helena's remains was unable to be recovered from the battlefield.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 322 She was awarded the Embry Star posthumously for her actions at Aspho Fields, which Anya accepted on her behalf.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 348-350 Anya kept her mom's Star instead of donating it to the regiment museum,Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 354 and strived to live up to her mom's example fifteen years later, while serving in the Locust-War.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 44 After Anya became a frontline soldier herself, she was said to be becoming more like her mother and after her first real battle, wished her mother was there to see her. Personality and Traits Helena had a "posh" voice that did not go with the color-full language that she was usually yelling at Gears. She was hyper-fit and had a wide smile.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 149 She inspired confidence into her unit, and made them want to fight for her. Her relationship with Anya was distant and professional,Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 154 but she managed to tell Anya that she was proud of her shortly before Helena died at Aspho Fields.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 285, 290 As a young officer, many higher ranking COG officers marked Helena for having lots of ambition, and expected her to rise quickly through the ranks.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 163 However, Helena was somewhat critical of the COG, believing the war was being fought for Imulsion, rather than the COG's stated reasons of fighting for democracy. She also considered the Gears under her command to be hers, not the governments, and thought of all of them as her responsibility and conscience. References Category:COG Category:Gear Soldier Category:Pendulum Wars veterans Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Tyran